What do a
plaster sculpture of an African-American Civil War soldier,
a letter from a young Abraham Lincoln, archeological textile fragments and one of Lady
Bird Johnson's dresses have in common?

They are all objects in National Park Service
collections that have received conservation treatment to ensure their safety during analysis, exhibit, and in long-term
storage. These and many other
objects are preserved in the museum collections in parks and
repositories throughout the NPS system. Many of these important objects
are fragile. They require stabilization and restoration to be safely used. Conservators
with a specialized education in conservation in art and science work behind the scenes, treating
objects to make them available for exhibits, educational programs and
research. Formal education is usually augmented with
apprenticeship-type training. This dual background gives them the
perspective to make aesthetic judgements based on a sound understanding of
deterioration.

This module describes the basic approach used in
conservation. Examples of conservation treatments completed by NPS
conservators to make NPS museum collections more accessible illustrate
their work. Conservation can be divided into four different areas: Examination,
Stabilization, Research, and Restoration; each is described in more
detail later in this module. Before any work is done on an object it must
be carefully examined to understand how and why it is deteriorating.
Stabilization stops deterioration and preserves the object.
Restoration techniques replace missing elements to make an object look
more like it did originally. Research takes place during all these steps
to ensure the best possible choices are considered.

All work
that is done by conservators is documented. Reports, photographs,
drawings, and analytical graphs are kept so that people who use the object can access
this information. We have used the actual words of the conservators in
the examples so you can get a sense of the
careful and objective way they describe what they see and do. We
have sometimes expanded on these reports to give you a more information
about the object. You will also find unfamiliar technical words
are linked to the glossary.

The examples in the exhibit are taken from conservation treatment
reports. NPS conservators also do research, complete surveys at parks,
give training courses and a variety of other activities. This online
exhibit will show you a selected number of conservation treatments
performed on National Park Service objects from sites across the United
States. If you want help with your own objects, click on Getting
Help.